[Relation between teeth clenching and grip force production characteristics].

This study investigated the possible contributing effect of oral motor function on maximal and explosive grip force production characteristics. Fourteen healthy male subjects (age 22.5 +/- 2.1 years) were asked to exert maximal explosive grip strength with their dominant hands under the following four conditions: 1. Teeth clenching before and during grip strength exertion (C-C), 2. Teeth clenching before grip strength exertion and mandibular resting position during grip strength exertion (C-R), 3. Mandibular resting position before grip strength exertion and teeth clenching during grip strength exertion (R-C), and 4. Mandibular resting position before and during grip strength exertion (R-R). Maximal force (maxF), average force for every 0.1 s (aveF), maximal rate of force development (maxRFD) and time required to reach 90% of maxF (T 90% max) were analyzed for 1 s from the onset of grip force production. MaxF under C-C and R-C were significantly greater than that under R-R by 12.1% and 12.3%, respectively. AveF under C-C was significantly greater by 10.0-41.2% than that under R-R for all ten periods. AveF under C-R was significantly larger by 9.8-19.0% than that under R-R conditions from 0 to 0.4 s. Compared with under R-R conditions, maxRFD under C-C and C-R increased by 15.8% and 8.5%, respectively, and T 90% max under C-C, C-R and R-C decreased by 22.3%, 12.3% and 12.8%, respectively. These findings suggest that oral motor functions such as teeth clenching may influence not only maximal grip strength generation but also the rapidity of grip force production.